Rotary head type component mounter

ABSTRACT

In a rotary head type component mounter, among a specified quantity of suction nozzles held by a rotary head, multiple suction nozzles are lowered simultaneously. When the rotary head is moved by a head moving mechanism to a nozzle exchange area and exchange of suction nozzles is performed, two station reference marks of the nozzle station are imaged by a mark imaging camera, image recognition is performed of the positions of the two station reference marks, and the position and angle of the nozzle station is calculated. Then, the position and angle of the rotary head is corrected to be aligned with the position and angle of the nozzle station, multiple of the suction nozzles held on the rotary head are lowered simultaneously by Z-axis driving mechanisms and simultaneously exchanged with multiple of the suction nozzles in the nozzle station.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/739,887, filed Dec. 26, 2017, which is a National Stage Entry of PCTPatent Application No. PCT/JP2015/070037 filed Jul. 13, 2015, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to a rotary head type component mounterconfigured to automatically exchange a suction nozzle held by a rotaryhead (rotating type mounting head) and a suction nozzle loaded in anozzle station.

BACKGROUND ART

In a rotary head type component mounter, as disclosed in patentliterature 1 (JP-A-2003-347796), exchange-use suction nozzles are loadedin a nozzle station (nozzle changer) that is set in the componentmounter, and automatic exchange is performed of a suction nozzle held ona rotary head and a suction nozzle in the nozzle station. Further, withthe rotary head type component mounter disclosed in patent literature 1,six nozzle holders (work heads) are provided to be raisable andlowerable on the rotary head (work section), and a suction nozzle isexchangeably held by each of the nozzle holders, and to shorten exchangetime for suction nozzles, the arrangement pitch of suction nozzles inthe nozzle holders is the same as the arrangement pitch of suctionnozzles in the nozzle station, such that, when exchanging suctionnozzles, two nozzle holders can be lowered simultaneously above thenozzle station to exchange two suction nozzles at the same time.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent literature 1: JP-A-2003-347796

SUMMARY Technical Problem

However, there is variance in the position of the nozzle station insidethe component mounter due to attachment tolerances and the like, andthere is a possibility that the nozzle station is attached at an anglewith respect to the reference coordinates (XY coordinates) of thecomponent mounter, such that the position of a suction nozzle in thenozzle station is deviated from its expected position. Thus, whenexchanging suction nozzles, if the rotary head is positioned above thenozzle station at the reference coordinates (XY coordinates) and twonozzle holders are lowered simultaneously, suction nozzle exchange mayfail due to position deviation of a suction nozzle in the nozzlestation.

Thus, to solve the above problems, an object of the present disclosureis to provide a rotary head type component mounter for whichsimultaneous exchange of multiple suction nozzles held by a rotary headand multiple suction nozzles in a nozzle station is possible even in acase in which the nozzle station is attached at an angle with positiondeviation.

Solution to Problem

To solve the above problems, the present disclosure is a rotary headtype component mounter, including: a rotary head configured to hold aspecified quantity of suction nozzles in an exchangeable manner at aspecified nozzle pitch in a circumferential direction; a nozzle stationconfigured such that multiple suction nozzles are arranged to beexchanged with a suction nozzle held by the rotary head; a head rotatingmechanism configured to revolve the specified quantity of suctionnozzles in a rotation direction of the rotary head by rotating therotary head; a head moving mechanism configured to move the rotary headin XY directions to and from a component pickup area at which componentpickup operation is performed, a component mounting area at whichcomponent mounting operation is performed, and a nozzle exchange area atwhich exchange operation of suction nozzles is performed; a Z-axisdriving mechanism configured to drive raise and lower the suction nozzlein the component pickup area, the component mounting area, and thenozzle exchange area so as to perform component pickup, componentmounting, and exchange of the suction nozzle; a control means configuredto perform control of the head rotating mechanism, the head movingmechanism, and the Z-axis driving mechanism; and a station position andangle detecting means configured to detect a position and angle of thenozzle station, wherein the Z-axis driving mechanism is configured tosimultaneously lower multiple suction nozzles of the specified quantityof suction nozzles held by the rotary head, and the control means isconfigured to, when the head moving mechanism moves the rotary head tothe nozzle exchange area for exchange of suction nozzles to beperformed, correct the position of the rotary head moved by the headmoving mechanism based on a position of the nozzle station detected bythe station position and angle detecting means, correct the rotationangle of the rotary head rotated by the head rotating mechanism to bealigned with the angle of the nozzle station detected by the stationposition and angle detecting means, and cause the Z-axis drivingmechanism to simultaneously lower multiple of the suction nozzles heldby the rotary head and perform simultaneous exchange with multiple ofthe suction nozzles in the nozzle station.

According to this configuration, because the position and angle of thenozzle station are detected and the position and angle of the rotaryhead are corrected in accordance with the detection results whenperforming simultaneous exchange of suction nozzles, even in a case inwhich the nozzle station is attached at an angle with a positiondeviation, it is possible to perform simultaneous exchange of multiplesuction nozzles held by the rotary head with multiple suction nozzles inthe nozzle station.

Note that, because work of changing the positions of suction nozzles ina nozzle station is manual work performed by an operator, having anexchangeable nozzle station enables work of changing the positions ofsuction nozzles in the nozzle station to be performed without timepressure in a spacious area outside of the component mounter while thecomponent mounter continues to operate, and is convenient becausepreparation can be done for exchange of the next nozzle station.However, if the nozzle station is configured to be exchangeable, it iseasier for the angle or position of the nozzle station set inside thecomponent mounter to deviate, therefore the present disclosure isparticularly effective in this case.

In this case, the configuration may be such that a station referencemark is provided on an upper surface of the nozzle station at at leasttwo locations, further provided is a mark imaging camera configured tomove in the XY directions as one body with the rotary head via the headmoving mechanism, wherein the station position and angle detectingmeans, by imaging the at least two station reference marks provided onthe nozzle station using the mark imaging camera and performing imagerecognition of a position of the at least two station reference marks,detects the position and angle of the nozzle station based on thepositions of the at least two station reference marks. Accordingly, themark imaging camera equipped on the component mounter for imaging boardmarks of a circuit board can be used, and the position and the angle ofthe nozzle station can be detected using image processing.

Further, the present disclosure may be configured wherein a headreference mark is provided at at least two locations on an underside ofthe rotary head, further provided is a component imaging cameraconfigured to image a component held by the suction nozzle from below,and a head position and angle detecting means configured to, by imagingthe at least two head reference marks provided on the rotary head usingthe component imaging camera and performing image recognition of aposition of the at least two head reference marks, detect a position andangle of the rotary head based on the position of the at least two headreference marks, wherein the control means calculates a positioncorrection amount and angle correction amount of the rotary head basedon the position and angle of the rotary head detected by the headposition and angle detecting means, and the position and angle of thenozzle station detected by the station position and angle detectingmeans and then performs simultaneous exchange of multiple suctionnozzles. Accordingly, because the position and angle of the rotary headcan be detected, it is possible to accurately determine the positioncorrection amount and the angle correction amount of the rotary head,and even if the position and angle of the rotary head is deviated, thedeviation can be corrected, and multiple suction nozzles held by therotary head and multiple suction nozzles in the nozzle station can beexchanged simultaneously. Further, the component imaging camera equippedon the component mounter can be used, and the position and angle of therotary head can be detected using image processing.

Also, the suction nozzles may be arranged in the nozzle station suchthat a movement distance of the rotary head from a position of thesuction nozzles exchanged simultaneously previously to a position of thesuction nozzles exchanged simultaneously subsequently is minimized.Thus, suction nozzle exchange time can be further reduced.

Further, the present disclosure may be configured wherein a nozzle IDrecording section on which is memorized or recorded identificationinformation (hereinafter referred to as “nozzle ID”) of the suctionnozzle is provided on the suction nozzle, further provided is a nozzleID reading means configured to read the nozzle ID from the nozzle IDrecording section, wherein the control means is configured to, in a casein which it is determined that an arrangement order of the suctionnozzles in the nozzle station is different to an exchange order based onthe nozzle IDs read by the nozzle ID reading means from the nozzle IDrecording sections of each of the suction nozzles arranged in the nozzlestation, change the arrangement order of the suction nozzles in thenozzle station using exchange operation of the suction nozzles so as tomatch the exchange order. Thus, in a case in which the arrangement orderof suction nozzles in the nozzle station is different to the exchangeorder, the arrangement order of the suction nozzles in the nozzlestation can be changed to match the exchange order.

Here, when a code label with a barcode or 2D code that records thenozzle ID is used as a nozzle ID recording section, the mark imagingcamera may be used as the nozzle ID reading means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is plan view of the main components of a rotary head typecomponent mounter that is an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of control items ofthe component mounter.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view seen from diagonally above of arotary head.

FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view seen from diagonally below of therotary head.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the rotary head.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a nozzle station.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the main components of the nozzle stationillustrating an exchange order of suction nozzles in the nozzle station.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of a first half ofa suction nozzle exchange operation control program.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of a second half ofa suction nozzle exchange operation control program.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the rotary head illustrating a nozzleexchange reference position on the rotary head side.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the disclosure is described below. First, theconfiguration of a rotary head type component mounter is described basedon FIGS. 1 and 2.

The rotary head type component mounter is configured from items such asconveyor 12 that conveys circuit board 11, component supply device 13such as a tape feeder or tray feeder, rotary head 15 that picks upcomponents supplied by component supply device 13 using suction nozzles14 (refer to FIGS. 3 to 5) and mounts the components on circuit board11, component imaging camera 16 that images a component held by suctionnozzle 14 from below, and nozzle station 17 in which multiple suctionnozzles 14 are arranged for exchange with suction nozzles 14 held byrotary head 15. As shown in FIG. 6, multiple nozzle housing recesses 18for housing suction nozzles 14 are formed in multiple rows at a regularpitch in nozzle station 17.

Provided in the component mounter is head moving mechanism 20 (refer toFIG. 2) that moves rotary head 15 in XY directions to and from acomponent mounting area at which component pickup operation isperformed, a component imaging area at which components held by suctionnozzles 14 are imaged using component imaging camera 16, a componentmounting area at which component mounting operation is performed, and anozzle exchange area at which exchange operation of suction nozzles 14is performed.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a specified quantity of suction nozzles 14are exchangeably provided on rotary head 15 at a specified nozzle pitchin a circumferential direction, suction nozzles 14 being configured topick up components fed to a component pickup position by componentsupply device 13. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, rotary head 15 isprovided with head rotating mechanism 21 that revolves the multiplesuction nozzles 14 in a circumferential direction of rotary head 15 byrotating (on its own axis) rotary head 15 around its own central axis (Raxis), Z-axis driving mechanism 22 that causes suction nozzle 14 to pickup a component by lowering the suction nozzle 14 at a specified stoppingposition (above the component pickup position) on the revolution path ofsuction nozzles 14, and nozzle rotating mechanism 23 that corrects thedirection of a component picked up by suction nozzle 14 by rotating (onits own axis) suction nozzle 14 around its own center axis.

In the present embodiment, Z-axis driving mechanism 22 is provided attwo locations around rotary head 15, and two suction nozzles 14 arelowered simultaneously at these two locations by Z-axis drivingmechanism 22 such that components are picked up by the two suctionnozzles 14 simultaneously, or such that two suction nozzles 14 in nozzlestation 17 can be exchanged simultaneously.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each Z-axis driving mechanism 22 uses Z-axismotor 25 as an actuator, and by screw 26 being rotated by this Z-axismotor 25 such that a Z-axis slide (not shown) is moved up and down, theZ-axis slide engages with an engaging member (not shown) provided at thetop end of nozzle holder 28 of rotary head 15, which raises and lowersnozzle holder 28, thus raising and lowering suction nozzle 14 held onthe lower section of nozzle holder 28. In addition, the Z-axis slide maybe moved in the vertical direction by using a linear motor as Z-axismotor 25. Alternatively, instead of a linear motor, a linear solenoid,an air cylinder, or the like may be used.

Mark imaging camera 30 (refer to FIG. 2) for imaging reference marks ofcircuit board 11 from above is provided on the component mounter andmoves together with rotary head 15 via head moving mechanism 20.

Connected to control device 41 (control means) of the component mounterare, for example, input device 42 such as a keyboard, mouse, ortouchscreen panel; memory device 43 (memory means) including a harddisk, RAM, ROM and so on for memorizing various types of programs, data,and the like; and display device 44 such as a liquid crystal display orCRT.

During operation of the component mounter, operation is repeated suchthat, after component pickup operation has been completed by movingrotary head 15 to the component pickup area using head moving mechanism20, rotary head 15 is moved to the component imaging area, the componentheld by suction nozzle 14 is imaged from below using component imagingcamera 16, the pickup orientation, and pickup position and angledeviation amount is recognized, and then rotary head 15 is moved to thecomponent mounting area and component mounting operation of mounting thecomponent on circuit board 11 is performed after correcting the pickupposition and angle deviation. In the component pickup area, operation isrepeated in which, after two suction nozzles 14 positioned above thecomponent pickup positions are simultaneously lowered and two componentsare simultaneously picked up by the two suction nozzles 14, the twosuction nozzles 14 are raised to their original positions, such that thespecified quantity of suction nozzles 14 held on nozzle holders 28 ofrotary head 15 pick up components sequentially.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, on a lower surface of rotary head 15, headreference marks 46 are provided at four locations (or at least twolocations) at equal intervals with the rotational axis of rotary head 15at the center. Control device 41 of the component mounter functions asthe head position and angle detecting means that detects the position(XY coordinates of a central point) and angle (θ) of rotary head 15based on the positions of the four head reference marks 46 by imagingthe four head reference marks 46 on the lower side of rotary head 15using component imaging camera 16 and performing image recognition ofthe positions of the four head reference marks 46. Accordingly, becausethe position and angle deviation of rotary head 17 can be detected, theposition correction amount and angle correction amount of rotary head 17can be calculated accurately, such that even in a case in which theposition or angle of rotary head 17 is deviated, the deviation can becorrected, and two suction nozzles 14 held by rotary head 17 can beexchanged simultaneously with two suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station17. Further, component imaging camera 16 equipped on the componentmounter can be used, and the position and angle of rotary head 17 can bedetected using image processing.

On the other hand, nozzle station 17 is provided to be exchangeablewithin the movement range of rotary head 15 within the componentmounter. As shown in FIG. 6, station reference marks 47 are provided attwo opposite corners on an upper surface of nozzle station 17. Controldevice 41 of the component mounter functions as the station position andangle detecting means that detects the position (XY coordinates of acentral point) and angle (0) of nozzle station 17 based on the positionsof the two station reference marks 47 by imaging the two stationreference marks 47 provided on nozzle station 17 from above using markimaging camera 30 and performing image recognition of the positions ofthe two station reference marks 47. Accordingly, mark imaging camera 30equipped on the component mounter for imaging board marks of circuitboard 11 can be used, and the position and the angle of nozzle station17 can be detected using image processing.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, suction nozzles 14(nozzle housing recesses 18) are arranged in multiple rows in nozzlestation 17, and the interval between two suction nozzles 14 (nozzlehousing recesses 18) of nozzle station 17 that are to be exchangedsimultaneously is equal to the interval (nozzle pitch) between twonozzle holders 28 of rotary head 15 that are to be exchangedsimultaneously.

Control device 41 of the component mounter, when moving rotary head 15to the nozzle exchange area using head moving mechanism 20 andperforming automatic exchange of suction nozzles 14, images the twostation reference marks 47 of nozzle station 17 using mark imagingcamera 30, recognizes the positions of the two station reference marks47, and detects the position and angle of nozzle station 17, then,corrects the position of rotary head 15 using head moving mechanism 20based on the detected position of nozzle station 17, corrects therotation angle of rotary head 15 using head rotating mechanism 21 to bealigned with the detected angle of nozzle station 17, simultaneouslylowers two suction nozzles 14 held by two nozzles holders 28 of rotaryhead 15 using the two Z-axis driving mechanisms 22, and simultaneouslyexchanges two suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station 17.

Here, the two suction nozzles 14 held by the two nozzle holders 28 ofrotary head 15 are housed in two empty nozzle housing recesses 18 ofnozzle station 17, and two suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station 17 aremade to be held by two nozzle holders 28. Note that, nozzle removaloperation of housing the two suction nozzles 14 held by the two nozzleholders 28 in the two empty nozzle housing recesses 18 of nozzle station17 and nozzle holding operation of two suction nozzles 14 being made tobe held by two nozzle holders 28 may be performed alternately, or,nozzle removal operation may be repeated sequentially such that all thesuction nozzles 14 to be exchanged are removed from rotary head 15 andthen nozzle holding operation may be repeated sequentially.

Further, in the present embodiment, to correct position deviation andangle deviation of rotary head 15 during automatic exchange of suctionnozzles 14, control device 41 of the component mounter performsautomatic exchange of two suction nozzles 14 after calculating theposition correction amount and the angle correction amount of rotaryhead 15 based on detection values of the position and angle of rotaryhead 15 obtained by detecting the position and the angle of rotary head15 based on the positions of the four head reference marks 46 obtainedby imaging the four head reference marks 46 on the lower surface ofrotary head 15 using component imaging camera 16 and performing imagerecognition of the four head reference marks 46.

Also, as shown in FIG. 6, provided on an upper surface of flange section14 a of suction nozzle 14 is ID code label 48 (nozzle ID memory section)on which is recorded identification information of the suction nozzle 14(hereinafter also referred to as “nozzle ID”) in the form of a barcodeor 2D code. Control device 41 of the component mounter functions as thenozzle ID reading means that reads the nozzle ID of suction nozzles 14by, before performing automatic exchange of suction nozzles 14 aftermoving rotary head 15 to the nozzle exchange area using head movingmechanism 20, imaging nozzle ID code label 48 of each suction nozzle 14arranged in nozzle station 17 using mark imaging camera 30 andperforming image processing.

Further, in the present embodiment, control device 41 of the componentmounter, in a case of determining that the arrangement order of suctionnozzles 14 in nozzle station 17 is different to the exchange order basedon the nozzle IDs read from nozzle ID code labels 48 of each suctionnozzle 14 arranged in nozzle station 17, switches suction nozzles 14using exchange operation of suction nozzles 14 such that the arrangementorder of suction nozzles 14 in nozzle station 17 matches the exchangeorder. Here, operation is repeated such that, among suction nozzles 14arranged in nozzle station 17, a suction nozzle 14 different to theexchange order is made to be held by a nozzle holder 28 of rotary head15, and is switched to an empty nozzle housing recess of nozzle station17, then, the suction nozzle of the correct exchange order is made to beheld by the nozzle holder 28 of rotary head 15, and is replaced in thecorrect nozzle housing recess for the exchange order, such thatswitching of suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station 17 is performed sothat the arrangement order of suction nozzles 14 matches the exchangeorder. Note that, depending on the arrangement order of suction nozzlesin nozzle station 17, there are cases in which two suction nozzles 14can be switched simultaneously, and cases in which two nozzle cannot beswitched simultaneously, in which case switching of suction nozzles 14can be performed one by one.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, suction nozzles 14 arearranged in nozzle station 17 such that a movement distance of rotaryhead 15 from a position of suction nozzles 14 exchanged simultaneouslypreviously to a position of suction nozzles 14 exchanged simultaneouslysubsequently is minimized. By this, it is possible to shorten theexchange time for suction nozzles 14.

In the example of FIG. 7, a total of sixteen suction nozzles 14 arearranged in nozzles station 17 in four rows of four (A1 to A4, B1 to B4,C1 to C4, D1 to D4). In a case of holding a total of twenty suctionnozzles 14 of nozzle station 17 on a total of 16 nozzle holders 28 ofrotary head 15, first, for example, after simultaneously holding thefirst suction nozzle 14 of the first row (A1) and the first suctionnozzle 14 of the third row (C1) in two nozzle holders 28, rotary head 15is moved using head moving mechanism 20 by an arrangement pitch ofsuction nozzles 14 in the direction of the next exchange order, androtary head 15 is rotated by head rotating mechanism 21 by the angle ofthe pitch of the interval between nozzle holders 28, the two nozzleholders 28 next in the order are positioned above the second suctionnozzle 14 of the first row (A2) and the second suction nozzle 14 of thethird row (C2), and these suction nozzles 14 (A2 and C2) aresimultaneously held on nozzle holders 28. Subsequently, rotary head 15is rotated by an angle of one pitch by head rotating mechanism 21 suchthat the two nozzle holders 28 next in order are positioned above thethird suction nozzles 14 of the first and third rows (A3, C3), those twosuction nozzles 14 (A3, C3) are simultaneously held by the two nozzleholders 28, then, rotary head 15 is rotated again by an angle of onepitch by head rotating mechanism 21 such that the nozzle holders 28 nextin order are positioned above the fourth suction nozzles 14 of the firstand third rows (A4, C4), and those two suction nozzles 14 (A4, C4) aresimultaneously held by the nozzle holders 28.

When all the suction nozzles 14 of the first and third rows (A1 to A4,C1 to C4) are held by nozzle holders 28 of rotary head 15, holdingoperation is performed for suction nozzles 14 of the second and fourthrows (B1 to B4, D1 to D4). Holding operation for suction nozzles 14 ofthe second and fourth rows (B1 to B4, D1 to D4) starts from the suctionnozzles 14 at the end (fourth) of the second and fourth rows (B4, D4)that are closest to the suction nozzles 14 at the end (fourth) of thefirst and third rows (A4, C4). Subsequently, rotary head 15 is moved byhead moving mechanism 20 in the opposite direction by an arrangementpitch of suction nozzles 14 each time, such that the third suctionnozzles 14 (B3, D3), the second suction nozzles 14 (B2, D2), and thefirst suction nozzles 14 (B1, D1) are simultaneously held by nozzleholders 28 in order.

Exchange operation of suction nozzles 14 of the embodiment describedabove is performed by control device 41 as follows in accordance withthe suction nozzle exchange operation control program of FIGS. 8 and 9.This program is performed repeatedly at a specified interval while powerto control device 41 is turned on. When the program is started, first,in step 101, processing stands by until there is a suction nozzleexchange instruction. Then, when there is a suction nozzle exchangeinstruction, proceeding to step 102, rotary head 15 is positioned abovecomponent imaging camera 16 by head moving mechanism 20, the fourreference marks 46 on the lower surface of rotary head 15 are imaged bycomponent imaging camera 16 and image recognition is performed of thepositions of the four head reference marks 46. Then, in step 103, basedon the positions of the four head reference marks 46, the position andangle of rotary head 15 is detected, the position of the two nozzleholders 28 (suction nozzles 14) to be lowered simultaneously by the twoZ-axis driving mechanisms 22 are calculated, and an intermediateposition between the two nozzle holders 28 (suction nozzles 14) iscalculated as a nozzle exchange reference position (refer to FIG. 10) onthe rotary head 15 side.

Then, proceeding to step 104, mark imaging camera 30 is positioned abovenozzle station 17 by head moving mechanism 20, the two station referencemarks 47 on nozzle station 17 are imaged by mark imaging camera 30, andimage recognition is performed of the positions of the two stationreference marks 47. Then, proceeding to step 105, based on therecognized positions of the two station reference marks 47, the positionand angle of nozzle station 17 are calculated, and the positions of eachnozzle housing recess 18 of nozzle station 17 and a nozzle exchangereference position (refer to FIG. 7) on the nozzle station 17 side arecalculated based on the position and angle of nozzle station 17. Here,the nozzle exchange reference position on the nozzle station 17 side isan intermediate position of the two suction nozzles 14 (two nozzlehousing recesses 18) in nozzle station 17 to be exchangedsimultaneously. Note that, the above processing of steps 104 to 105 maybe performed before processing of steps 102 to 103.

Then, proceeding to step 106, a rotary head 15 angle correction amountis calculated based on the angle of nozzle station 17 and the angle ofrotary head 15, and the angle of rotary head 15 is corrected by headrotating mechanism 21 to be aligned with the angle of nozzle station 17.Then, proceeding to step 107, rotary head 15 is moved to the nozzleexchange area by head moving mechanism 20, and the nozzle exchangereference position on the rotary head 15 side is aligned with the nozzleexchange reference position on the nozzle station 17 side.

Then, proceeding to step 108 of FIG. 9, it is determined whether theposition deviation amount between the position of the two nozzle holders28 of rotary head 15 to be lowered simultaneously and the position ofthe two suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station 17 is equal to or less thana permissible value for simultaneous exchange. If the determinationresult is that the position deviation amount is equal to or less thanthe permissible value, proceeding to step 109, the two nozzle holders 28of rotary head 15 are lowered simultaneously by the two Z-axis drivingmechanisms 22, such that the two suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station 17are simultaneously held by the two nozzle holders 28.

In contrast, if it is determined in step 108 that the position deviationamount exceeds the permissible value, it is determined that simultaneousexchange is not possible, and, proceeding to step 110, after holding oneof the suction nozzles 14 of nozzle station 17 by one of the nozzleholders 28 of the two nozzle holders 28, the other of the suctionnozzles 14 is held by the other of the nozzle holders 28. That is, thesuction nozzles 14 are held one by one.

Then, proceeding to step 111, it is determined whether to performsubsequent exchange of suction nozzles 14, and if it is determined toperform subsequent exchange of suction nozzles 14, proceeding to step112, rotary head 15 is moved by head moving mechanism 20 to the nextnozzle exchange reference position on the nozzle station 17 side, rotaryhead 15 is rotated by head rotating mechanism 21 by the angle of onepitch between nozzle holders 28, and the two nozzle holders 28 for thenext simultaneous exchange are positioned at the two suction nozzles 14for the next simultaneous exchange, then processing returns to step 108.Subsequently, the above processing is repeated, and each suction nozzle14 of nozzle station 17 is sequentially held by the nozzle holders 28 ofrotary head 15.

Then, when suction nozzles 14 are held by all the nozzle holders 28 ofrotary head 15, in the above step 111, the determination is “No”, andthe program ends.

Note that, because work of changing the positions of suction nozzles 14in nozzle station 17 is manual work performed by an operator, as in thepresent embodiment, having an exchangeable nozzle station 17 enableswork of changing the positions of suction nozzles 14 in nozzle station17 to be performed without time pressure in a spacious area outside ofthe component mounter while the component mounter continues to operate,and is convenient because preparation can be done for exchange of thenext nozzle station 17. However, if nozzle station 17 is configured tobe exchangeable, it is easier for the angle or position of nozzlestation 17 set inside the component mounter to deviate.

Considering this point, in the present embodiment, because the positionand angle of nozzle station 17 are detected and the position and angleof rotary head 15 are corrected in accordance with the detection resultswhen performing simultaneous exchange of suction nozzles 14, even in acase in which nozzle station 17 is attached at an angle with a positiondeviation, it is possible to perform simultaneous exchange of twosuction nozzles 14 held by rotary head 17 with two suction nozzles 14 innozzle station 17.

Note that, with the present disclosure, nozzle station 17 may beconfigured not to be exchangeable, and even in this case it is possibleto realize an object of the disclosure.

Also, in an embodiment above, nozzle ID code label 48 is provided onsuction nozzle 14 as a nozzle ID memory section on which a nozzle ID isrecorded, but an electronic tag (also known as an RF tag, IC tag, radiotag, or wireless tag) with the nozzle ID recorded may be provided, and areader (nozzle ID reading means) to read the nozzle ID from theelectronic tag may be provided on the component mounter side.

Otherwise, the present disclosure is not limited to the aboveembodiments, and it goes without saying that various changes may be madewithout departing from the scope, for example, the configuration may besuch that three or more suction nozzles 14 may be exchangedsimultaneously, the quantity of suction nozzles 14 (quantity of nozzleholders 28) held by rotary head 15 may be changed, the quantity ofsuction nozzles 14 arranged in nozzle station 17 may be changed, or theexchange order or arrangement pattern of suction nozzles 14 in nozzlestation 17 may be changed.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

11: circuit board; 12: conveyor; 13: component supply device; 14:suction nozzle; 15: rotary head; 16: component imaging camera; 17:nozzle station; 18: nozzle housing recess; 20: head moving mechanism;21: head rotating mechanism; 22: Z-axis driving mechanism; 23: nozzlerotating mechanism; 28: nozzle holder; 30: mark imaging camera; 41:control device (control means); 46: head reference mark; 47: stationreference mark; 48: nozzle ID code label (nozzle ID recording section)

1. A rotary head type component mounter, comprising: a rotary headconfigured to hold a specified quantity of suction nozzles in anexchangeable manner at a specified nozzle pitch in a circumferentialdirection; a nozzle station configured such that multiple suctionnozzles are arranged to be exchanged with a suction nozzle held by therotary head; a head rotating mechanism configured to revolve thespecified quantity of suction nozzles in a rotation direction of therotary head by rotating the rotary head; a head moving mechanismconfigured to move the rotary head in XY directions to and from acomponent pickup area at which component pickup operation is performed,a component mounting area at which component mounting operation isperformed, and a nozzle exchange area at which exchange operation ofsuction nozzles is performed; a Z-axis driving mechanism configured todrive raise and lower the suction nozzle in the component pickup area,the component mounting area, and the nozzle exchange area so as toperform component pickup, component mounting, and exchange of thesuction nozzle; a control means configured to perform control of thehead rotating mechanism, the head moving mechanism, and the Z-axisdriving mechanism; wherein the Z-axis driving mechanism is configured tosimultaneously lower multiple suction nozzles of the specified quantityof suction nozzles held by the rotary head, and the control means isconfigured to, when the head moving mechanism moves the rotary head tothe nozzle exchange area for exchange of suction nozzles to beperformed, alternately and repeatedly perform a nozzle removingoperation of housing two of the suction nozzles held in two of thenozzle holders in two empty nozzle housing sections of the nozzlestation, and a nozzle holding operation of holding two of the suctionnozzles housed in the nozzle station on two of the nozzle holders.